NCAA Coaching Carousel: NMSU Promotes OC Doug Martin To HC

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Team | Previous Coach | Dismissal | New Coach

Arkansas | John L. Smith | Expired Contract | Bret Bielema
Arkansas State | Gus Malzahn | Left For New Job | Bryan Harsin
Auburn | Gene Chizik | Fired | Gus Malzahn
Boston College | Frank Spaziani | Fired | Steve Addazio
California | Jeff Tedford | Fired | Sonny Dykes
Cincinnati | Butch Jones | Left For New Job | Tommy Tuberville
Colorado | Jon Embree | Fired | Mike MacIntyre
FIU | Mario Cristobal | Fired | Ron Turner
Georgia State | Bill Curry | Retired | Trent Miles
Idaho | Robb Akey | Fired | Paul Petrino
Kent State | Darrell Hazell | Left For New Job | Paul Haynes
Kentucky | Joker Phillips | Fired | Mark Stoops
Louisiana Tech | Sonny Dykes | Left For New Job | Skip Holtz
Nevada | Chris Ault | Retired | Brian Polian
New Mexico State | DeWayne Walker | Left For New Job | Doug Martin
N.C. State | Tom O'Brien | Fired | Dave Doeren
Northern Illinois | Dave Doeren | Left For New Job | Rod Carey
Purdue | Danny Hope | Fired | Darrell Hazell
Oregon | Chip Kelly | Left For New Job | Mark Helfrich
San Jose State | Mike MacIntyre | Left For New Job | Ron Caragher
South Florida | Skip Holtz | Fired | Willie Taggart
Southern Miss | Ellis Johnson | Fired | Todd Monken
Syracuse | Doug Marrone | Left For New Job | Scott Shafer
Temple | Steve Addazio | Left For New Job | Matt Rhule
Tennessee | Derek Dooley | Fired | Butch Jones
Texas Tech | Tommy Tuberville | Left For New Job | Kliff Kingsbury
Utah State | Gary Andersen | Left For New Job | Matt Wells
UTEP | Mike Price | Retired | Sean Kugler
Western Kentucky | Willie Taggart | Left For New Job | Bobby Petrino
Western Michigan | Bill Cubit | Fired | P.J. Fleck
Wisconsin | Bret Bielema | Left For New Job | Gary Andersen

Tom O'Brien has been dismissed as head coach at N.C. State.

The former Boston College head coach led the Wolfpack to bowl games in three straight seasons and four of the last five campaigns, but the school announced Sunday that he will not return for a seventh year.

US PRESSWIRETom O'Brien will not get a seventh season in Raleigh.

O'Brien recorded a 40-35 mark in six seasons with a 22-26 record in ACC play. With his contract going through December 2015, he will be paid over $1 million over the next three years.

N.C. State sits at 7-5 after beating Boston College this weekend, so the Wolfpack will be led by an interim head coach in the team's bowl game.

It will be interesting to see who athletic director Debbie Yow targets for the opening in Raleigh, but an early name to consider is Vanderbilt's James Franklin, who was hired by Yow to succeed Ralph Friedgen at Maryland. Of course, Franklin never received his chance to coach the Terps. But he has done wonders at Vandy, especially on the recruiting front, which is an area that O'Brien struggled in at N.C. State.

Franklin has won 14 games in two seasons with the Commodores, including taking the program to two straight bowl games.

Perhaps Yow feels that she can get Franklin because dismissing a head coach who is one of two coaches in school history to beat North Carolina five straight times is a bit peculiar. While many people I've talked to in the past believe N.C. State is a bit of a sleeping giant, O'Brien did go 24-14 since the start of the 2010 season, which is one of the most successful runs in school history.

Perhaps heartbreaking losses this fall to Miami (FL) and North Carolina were the nails in the coffin for the 64-year-old O'Brien as well as a terrible home loss to Virginia. Despite the Wolfpack knocking off Florida State, 2012 was another year of inconsistency in Raleigh. And Yow hopes to change that with her new hire.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/n-c-sta...0071--nfl.html

Doesn't seem like O'Brien deserved this, but cronyism is at play, as I'm sure Yow will push heavily for Franklin.

[SuperKevin]

They need to get Franklin and his SEC experience before they move to the SEC

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/25/hope-runs-out-purdue-releases-its-coach-after-four-seasons/related/

(We are so, so sorry for that terrible headline)

As expected, the Sunday following the last major college football weekend (for most teams) is turning into a festival of firings. Tom O’Brien (North Carolina State) and Gene Chizik (Auburn) are two coaches that have already been shown the door. Now, you can add Purdue coach Danny Hope to that group.

The university announced Sunday that Hope has been relieved of his duties as head coach after just four seasons. Wide receivers coach Patrick Higgins will serve as interim head coach for the Boilermakers’ bowl game.

Hope will receive a $600,000 buyout for his efforts, or lack thereof.

“There is no question that our football program has seen considerable growth under Danny’s leadership, particularly in the areas of academics, player development and recruiting,” athletic director Morgan Burke said. “I applaud him for his passion about Purdue University and the young men he coaches. He and his staff have devoted their lives to improving the program, but as I told him earlier this afternoon, those efforts did not equate to the consistent on-field success that both of us expected.


“I want to personally thank Danny and his wife, Sally, for their contributions not only to Purdue but to the Greater Lafayette community.

The move comes just one day after the Boilermakers beat Indiana 56-35 to end the season on a three-game winning streak.

Hope is 23-27 overall and 13-19 in the Big Ten during his four years with the Boilermakers. Hope’s best season came last year when Purdue went 7-6. He took over the program in 2009, succeeding Joe Tiller.

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49958949/

BOSTON (AP) - Boston College has fired football coach Frank Spaziani after four years of progressively worse records and two straight seasons without a bowl appearance.

New athletic director Brad Bates made the announcement on Sunday, a day after the Eagles (2-10, 1-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) finished the season with a 27-10 loss at North Carolina State.

"A personnel decision of this magnitude affects many people and is never taken lightly, but I felt a change was necessary," Bates said in a news release sent shortly after an email to season ticket-holders.

The decision was widely expected, and Spaziani all-but spoke openly about his understanding that it would be his last year. Asked on Saturday if he would make his case to stay, Spaziani told reporters in Raleigh, N.C. after Saturday's game, "I do have a case."

Spaziani, 65, spent 12 years as a BC assistant, the last 10 as defensive coordinator, before taking over when Jeff Jagodzinski was fired for interviewing for an NFL job. The Eagles won eight games his first season, seven the next and four last year.

A New Jersey native who played for Joe Paterno at Penn State, Spaziani had three years remaining on a contract that paid him $1.1 million per year.

Including the bowl game he coached after Jagodzinski was fired, Spaziani had a record of 22-29 at BC.

"It is with gratitude that we recognize the many contributions Coach Spaziani has made to Boston College during his 16 years in Chestnut Hill," Bates said. "He displayed unwavering dedication and loyalty to our institution and our football student-athletes, while consistently representing Boston College with class and dignity. He and his staff have devoted countless hours to our student-athletes and the BC community. We thank them and wish them well."

Bates was hired last month to replace Gene DeFilippo, who retired after 15 years. The new AD said he would begin searching for a new football coach - his first major hire in the job - immediately.

"We will be seeking a leader whose vision of our football program mirrors the mission of our university, who values the development of our student-athletes and whose goal is to return our program to national prominence," he said. "Our fans and the entire University community value the rich tradition of Boston College football, and we are committed to making it a successful program."

[TheImmortalGoud]

Former WSU, Bama, & Current UTEP Coach Mike Price Retires

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8652882/utep-mike-price-retiring-coaching-31-years

EL PASO, Texas -- UTEP coach Mike Price is retiring after a 31-year career notable for two Rose Bowl bids at Washington State and a drinking binge that cost him the Alabama job before he ever coached a game for the Crimson Tide.

Price announced the decision Monday with one game left in his ninth season with the Miners (3-8). He led UTEP to 8-4 records and bowl games his first two years in El Paso but hasn't had a winning record since.

The 66-year-old Price, who started at Weber State in 1981, has a 177-182 career record entering his final game Saturday at home against Rice. He is sixth among active FBS coaches in wins.

"I'm retiring from the game I've loved my entire life," Price said at a campus news conference.

Price's son, Aaron Price, is UTEP's offensive coordinator, but the elder Price said he was endorsing defensive coordinator Andre Patterson as the next head coach.

"I wish I could coach here forever," Price said. "But that doesn't happen. That's the reality of life."

Athletic director Bob Stull said Patterson would be considered for a hire he hopes to make before Christmas.

"I think we've got things in place to be very competitive," Stull said. "We need to keep some continuity in what we're doing."

Price, who coached Drew Bledsoe and Ryan Leaf in 14 years at Washington State, was a surprise choice to replace Dennis Franchione at Alabama after the 2002 season. He was set for a seven-year, $10 million contract when he admitted he drank heavily and went to a strip club after attending a golf tournament in Florida in the spring of 2003.

Price sued the school for $20 million over his firing, but a judge threw out the lawsuit, noting the fact that Price never signed the contract. He also sued Sports Illustrated over a report that alleged he had sex with two women in his hotel room. That lawsuit was settled.

He stayed away from coaching for a year, and UTEP fans embraced him from the start, especially after his first team went to the 2004 Houston Bowl and lost a competitive game to Colorado. The Miners started 8-1 his second season but lost the last three games to begin a slide back to mediocrity that had defined the program for decades.

Even though the Miners started this season 1-3, there was promise because all three losses were competitive games against Oklahoma, Mississippi and Wisconsin. But three straight losses to Conference USA teams followed, and the Miners barely beat Southern Miss, the nation's only winless team, on Saturday.

Price brought his wife, Joyce, to the podium for part of his retirement speech, and fought back tears as he spoke of his close relationship with Stull, who decided to hire him less than a year after the Alabama scandal. Price didn't mention his brief Alabama stint in a roughly half-hour news conference.

"He has been 100 percent supportive of me and really loyal," Price said of Stull. "When the going gets bad, boy, he's really good. He's at his best. I didn't win enough games. Period."

While he finished with a losing record at UTEP, Price brought the Miners recognition they'd never seen by persuading Texas coach Mack Brown and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops to visit the Sun Bowl when it wasn't the New Year's Eve bowl game.

The first El Paso meeting between the Longhorns and Miners in 2008 was the most anticipated in program history and drew a record crowd of 53,415. UTEP almost knocked off then-No. 4 Oklahoma to start this season.

Price remained a hit in the community even as the losing seasons piled up, and he said planned to stay in El Paso.

"Mike has brought a level of national attention and respect to UTEP that only an elite coach could bring," Stull said. "While Mike's coaching accolades are extensive, his greatest value has come in the warmth and love that he has shown the people of El Paso."

Price started his career in 1969 with the first of two stints as an assistant at Washington State. He was also on the staffs at Missouri and Puget Sound, his alma mater.

[seaplus]

Doesn't seem like O'Brien deserved this, but cronyism is at play, as I'm sure Yow will push heavily for Franklin.

Yow said at the press conference earlier this evening that "James Franklin is not a candidate for this job. Although we did text yesterday, we didn't text about this."

And there's a pole of States fans favoring the decision 613 to 157 against

They need to get Franklin and his SEC experience before they move to the SEC

if you look around unc-ch and SEC message boards, both factions seem to want chapel hill to be the next school invited to join the SEC. if unc-ch goes to the SEC, i see VT or UVA going with and NC State left wondering what conference it fits into. but this could change if the unc-ch higher-ups feel the SEC academic environment isn't suitable for their school's public ivy league status ... yes they feel that they are just as good as an ivy league school

i do feel NCSU would be a better fit culturally with the SEC. but the unc-ch brand and the boost to the conference's basketball reputation seems like too much to overcome to be the preferred choice

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://www.timescall.com/ci_22064395/football-cu-buffs-fire-jon-embree

Colorado has fired football coach Jon Embree after two challenging years on the football field in which the Buffs have gone 4-21.

Athletic director Mike Bohn informed Embree at the Dal Ward Center on Sunday afternoon during a conversation about the future of the program, a source said.

Embree, the first black head coach in CU history and a former tight end who played under legendary coach Bill McCartney in the 1980s, inherited a program in need of a massive overhaul in December 2010 after five years under Dan Hawkins.

The Buffs struggled to establish an identity on either side of the ball the past two years and never received consistent quarterback play. CU was the youngest team in the nation in terms of experience entering this season and it showed as the Buffs went 1-11 and failed to win a game at Folsom Field for the first time in history.

Embree is scheduled to meet with his team tonight and a press conference will be held on campus Monday. The school has started a national search for a replacement.

Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun is believed to be on the shortlist of candidates. Bohn talked with Calhoun about the position in 2009 when the school ultimately chose to stick with Hawkins and Bohn approached Calhoun again in 2010 when it hired Embree.

Buffzone.com will have more on this developing story throughout the evening.

[Senser81]

LOL at Purdue firing their coach after he gets that crap-ass program to a bowl game. Talk about ungrateful. Who is going to take that job now? Brock Spack?

[Senser81]

Doesn't seem like O'Brien deserved this, but cronyism is at play, as I'm sure Yow will push heavily for Franklin.

O'Brien should have been fired after kicking 3-year starter Russell Wilson off the team. What an egomaniac. Possibly the dumbest college football decision in recent history.

[NAHSTE]

O'Brien should have been fired after kicking 3-year starter Russell Wilson off the team. What an egomaniac. Possibly the dumbest college football decision in recent history.

But ... BUT ... He did that so that he could hand the reins to this guy ...

[seaplus]

must. resist. urge.

[TheImmortalGoud]

Southern Miss fired Ellis Johnson after one season.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/21161645/southern-miss-fires-football-coach-after-one-winless-season

Southern Mississippi has fired football coach Ellis Johnson after one winless season.

Athletic director Jeff Hammond said in a statement Tuesday that Johnson "will not return in the future as our head football coach."

The 60-year-old Johnson is due a $2.1 million buyout over the next three seasons.

The veteran coach has been a successful defensive coordinator at several schools, including South Carolina, Mississippi State, Alabama and Clemson before coming to Hattiesburg, Miss.

That experience didn't translate into success with the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss finished with a 0-12 record one season after a school-record 12-2 finish that included a win in the Hawaii Bowl. The Golden Eagles were the only team in the Football Bowl Subdivision not to win a game this year.

[Senser81]

One season too late.

[NAHSTE]

Johnson clearly wasn't cut out to be a head coach, but he'll return to the SEC as a DC (Kentucky's new hire would do well to land him) and resume being excellent in that position. Some guys are just topped out as assistants, it's cool.

Will be very interesting to see if Southern Miss can undo the damage done in such a short time though. They were a solid program for so long and just like that their reputation has been obliterated. This is a tricky hire ahead for the Golden Eagles.

[NAHSTE]

Kentucky to hire FSU assistant Mark Stoops

https://twitter.com/KySportsRadio/status/273494993572880384

In other news ...